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Xiu Hanyeo
"Your father sounds mad. Almost as mad as the day Wandao had broken his first wooden spear."- Miliana Stormtail, to Prince Tailonghttp://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17631683&postcount=502 Hanyeo was the second son of Qzare Xiu Raozhen, and twice Qzare in the Salterri Imperium. Early life Hanyeo was born in 356, the second wife of Xiu Raozhen and Miliana Stormtail. His father died when he was just eleven years old, leaving Hanyeo's elder brother Wandao to inherit the Silver Throne. While Wandao was politically moderate, Hanyeo was regarded as rather stricter. He is believed to have been one of the principal agitators for the punitive expedition to avenge the murder of Governor Lann Qing.http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17211762&postcount=250 First Reign Hanyeo had been placed in command of the rearguard during Wandao's invasion, against his wishes, and as such escaped where the rest of the Imperial army was killed or captured.http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17211762&postcount=250 As a captive, Wandao automatically forfeited the title of Qzare, and Hanyeo adopted the mantle. He gave support to the rising power of the Priory of Ascension and cooperated with them on drafting a new charter for the Imperial vassals. He approved the recovery of his brother from captivity in Aloren, which was later secured during the Second Grand Ball. On Wandao's return to Aus-Teire, Hanyeo was persuaded to step down and allow his brother to resume the throne. Shortly after Wandao's return, Hanyeo fathered an illegitimate child, Tailong, on a common woman named Evarya. Second Reign of Wandao Hanyeo remained a loyal supporter of his brother during his second reign, although it was believed that privately he held deep reservations about many of Wandao's policies. He remained a supporter of the Priory and the doctrine of Ascension, encouraging the expansion of their authority into Bor-Teire, Minotron and Bracia. In 393 he was present at the Moonshroud Festival in Xianzhi Urbe where the first Ascended were created, and fled the scene in apparent pain, leading to rumours that he himself had "ascended". It was also rumoured that Wandao undertook measures to "cure" the transformation in his brother. After this time, Hanyeo took to wearing a mask in public. After the death of Wandao's son and heir apparent Xiu Tian'o in 400 fighting the undead in the west, an announcement was made that Wandao would abdicate in favour of Hanyeo. Hanyeo recognised Tailong as his son, giving him the name Xiu Tailong, and named him as his heir. Second Reign of Hanyeo As Qzare once more, Hanyeo sponsored exploration across the oceans to east and west, which resulted in colonies being established in Niemidaland and Nan Hai Nian. He also sent Imperial troops to support the occupation of Farridon by the Crown of Jarrow. He worked closely with Patriarch Gloriosis, who was known to be an admirer of the Qzare. Hanyeo altered the laws of marriage and succession relating to the Qzare, repealing Huar Pan'gu's Law which banned polygamy (and had already been largely repealed in other respects). Thereafter the children of the Qzare would be required to compete for the right to succeed, supposedly ensuring that the most worthy would inherit. This reportedly marked a return to older Imperial practices.http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17542600&postcount=441 In 415 he attended the weddings of his vassal King Athelmere's sons, and negotiated an agreement in principle for one of Athelmere's daughters to Tailong. Shortly after the ceremony, he was confronted by Chief Hierarch Zanper Fidious of the Priory of Ascension, who outlined his belief that the house of Xiu had lost the Silver Mandate, exemplified both by Hanyeo's previous surrender of the Silver Throne to Wandao, and Hanyeo's own transformation. Hanyeo rejected the Chief Hierarch's interpretation, insisting he had been blessed by the Silver Lady and was the best man to rule the Imperium. In 418 the Priory declared their conclusions and publicly announced Hanyeo had lost the Silver Mandate, with Zanper Fidious challenging Hanyeo to single combat. Hanyeo issued an order for Fidious's arrest on charges of treason and prepared to march into Salteire to carry it out. During the preparations for war, he fell out with Tailong, who stole the Imperial crown and fled. Death In 420 Hanyeo invaded Salteire, starting the Wars of the Mandate. Despite his significant numerical advantage, he failed to make best use of his resources, perhaps due to his anger at what he viewed as the Priory's betrayal. In the first battle, he confronted Fidious directly and, according to some accounts, struck him down, but failed to inflict a fatal blow. He perished in the battle in unclear circumstances, his body being taken by the Priory. Policies and Legacy The death of the leaders of both the Priory and the Imperium temporarily put an end to the war until a successor to Hanyeo could be determined. The Priory advanced the cause of Hanyeo's former associate (and Fidious's son) Gloriosis, now calling himself Zuida Rongyao, while the other vassals and the Heartlands supported Tailong. When accommodation between them proved impossible, the Priory effectively seceded from the Imperium, to be reunited only following the death of both claimants, during the reign of Hanyeo's granddaughter Li Tianshi. Hanyeo was an Imperial supremacist, consistently supporting the expansion of the Imperium and refusing to tolerate the pretensions of foreigners more than absolutely necessary. According to reports of private conversation, he believed himself to have been given a divine mandate to rule the Imperium separate from his dynastic entitlement, and planned a grand war of conquest across the world. In the southern Imperium, Hanyeo is generally remembered as a strict but fair ruler who treated his vassals well, if less generously than Wandao had, and sponsored their development. Cassius Caercia, the last sovereign Lord Protector of the Caercian Consortium, was a known admirer of Hanyeo, and his successor Ji named his eldest son after the former Qzare. In the Priory, Hanyeo was regarded as having been a legitimate Qzare, but a dangerous tyrant, whose removal might have been illegal but was ultimately for the good of the Imperium and the world. Ridovo is known to have expressed admiration for Hanyeo, calling him "the Destroyer". Appearance By 415, Hanyeo had a face marked by dull silver bruises and a pair of softly glowing silver eyes set within.http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17584091&postcount=97 He had four wings, all featherless, each the length of a grown man and shimmering like polished metal. Silvery-white, the colour of most angels' wings, was only one of them, the others manifested in near-black green, a gem-like blue and the golden-orange colour of orichalcum.http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=17588912&postcount=110 It is not known to what extent these differences were the result of Wandao's alleged efforts to "cure" him of his ascension, though Hanyeo may never have been a conventional Ascended. Family and Issue Hanyeo married his cousin Dame Dangi, though they had no children. By a common woman named Evarya, Hanyeo had one son, later legitimised: *Li Tailong (382 - 436), known as Xiu Tailong during Hanyeo's second reign, though renounced the Xiu name following his succession as Qzare. Married Ambryn Jarrow and had eight legitimate children. References Category:Rulers Category:Characters Category:Humans Category:Rulers of Telluris Category:Characters of Telluris